CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Kougianos

Background

CitiMortgage, Inc. brought an action that appears to be a mortgage foreclosure case in the Supreme Court of New York, Bronx County. Defendants Dorothy Gizaris and Konstantin Kougianos removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 30, 2025. The defendants did not attach all process, pleadings, and orders served in the state-court action. They were proceeding without lawyers, so the court interpreted their removal notices to present the strongest arguments reasonably suggested by them.

Reasons for Remand

The court identified two procedural defects under 28 U.S.C. § 1446. First, the notice of removal and amended notice did not include copies of all required state-court papers. Second, the state-court docket showed that the case had begun in April 2018, well beyond the statutory period for removal. The court stated that these defects alone supported sending the case back to state court.

The court separately addressed subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning the federal court’s legal authority to hear the case. Defendants argued that the foreclosure action involved substantial federal-law questions, constitutional violations, and due-process issues. The court held that allegations that a state-court foreclosure action violated constitutional or other federal civil rights do not create federal-question jurisdiction over the removed foreclosure case.

Disposition

Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ordered the Clerk of Court to remand the case to the New York Supreme Court, Bronx County, under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), and to close the federal case. The opinion states that the court could order the remand without waiting for a further request or notice. The ruling was based on both the defective and untimely removal and the lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.